Center for Community Health Equity

08/28/2025

Belonging, a research topic that is gaining prominence in many circles, was featured in a recent Rush University newsletter titled "Build belonging and resilience to retain future doctor."

Check out CCHE affiliate faculty member Cynthia Boyd's feature in the article and role in supporting students and fostering belonging through her role as the associate dean of admissions and recruitment at Rush Medical College.

“Fully engaged faculty provide guidance around every aspect of a medical career, including professional choices and personal relationships. That includes research opportunities, clinical experiences and leadership roles within the Rush system," Dr. Boyd said.

Check out the article here:

Rush University System for Health fosters inclusion, mentorship and well-being to keep future physicians engaged—from med school through residency.

08/26/2025

Please check out the upcoming engagement sessions for the Illinois Department on Aging. They are developing Illinois’ multi-sector plan for aging, engAging Illinois- A Comprehensive Plan for Living Well.

To support these efforts, several engagement sessions have been scheduled to share ideas and feedback for this 10-year plan and engage underserved communities. They want to identify solutions to problems and identify regional variations in aging services needs and challenges.

Register here for an upcoming session: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/17ee716ccdf1485395c9a3ed50a089e8

We hope to see you there!

08/21/2025

Next up for our partner highlight is CommunityHealth!

Here's a little bit more about the organization:

🌟 The mission of CommunityHealth is to serve people without essential health care. Their vision is quality health care for all. CommunityHealth is one of the largest volunteer-based health centers in the nation that provides primary and specialty care, medications, lab testing, mental health services, and health education at no charge to low-income, uninsured and underinsured adults in Chicago.

🌟CommunityHealth believes everyone not only deserves equitable health care but also has their own place in being part of the fight for health care. A great example of this is their All Involved program. The All Involved program invites anyone invested in building a system where everyone has access to the right health care, at the right time, in the right place to join the conversation. Join them in cultivating an inclusive, accessible, and truly effective health care safety net. Whether you’re an individual or an organization, find your path to supporting culturally competent care with All Involved through events, fundraising, partnerships, and more. In short, CommunityHealth believes that everyone in the community- supporters, staff, and patients, have a role in the work that they do.

🌟CommunityHealth aims to provide quality health care to underserved communities. To achieve this, CommunityHealth not only focuses on the care provided at the clinic, but also the work done in the community. Their outreach team travels around Chicago, distributing resources at different community events to try and provide information to the people who could benefit from knowing about our clinics. They also have microsites around Chicago, which allows them to provide accessible care in multiple communities. To learn more about the services and resources they provide, you can visit https://communityhealth.org/health-education/

🌟To connect with CommunityHealth, please check out their social media:

https://www.instagram.com/communityhealthchicago

https://www.facebook.com/CommunityHealthChicago/

and https://communityhealth.org/

08/18/2025

Our summer intern Rachel Shalit is helping CCHE complete our health equity review of articles for 2021.

Check out her graphic below which highlights the article "Challenges and Barriers to HIV Care for Mexican Born Men Living in Chicago."

This cross-sectional baseline study found that mental health distress and social stigma are linked to late-stage HIV diagnosis.

Stay tuned for more health equity article highlights in the coming weeks!

08/14/2025

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning recently released their Community Data Snapshots, highlighting demographics, housing, employment, transportation habits, and other key details in each of the region’s 284 municipalities, 77 Chicago community areas, and 7 counties.

Learn more about where you live by checking out the CMAP Community Data Dashboard below:

08/11/2025

Looking for a fun way to give back this summer? Bike the Drive is coming up on Sunday, August 31, and volunteers are needed! Roles include assisting with packet pick-up, handing out snacks and water, directing riders, and supporting setup and teardown.

Volunteers get free breakfast, a T-shirt, and a rooftop after-party invitation. Plus, groups of 8-14 can earn a $250 donation and groups of 15+ can earn $350 for their nonprofit or community group.

Let’s help make Bike the Drive 2025 the best yet!

Learn more and sign up:

activetrans.org/about-us/get-involved/volunteer-resources

activetrans.my.salesforce-sites.com/volunteer

Questions? Email volunteer@activetrans.org

07/31/2025

Sinai Urban Health Institute is hosting a webinar titled: "Rooted and Resilient: Comprehensive Approaches to CHW Workforce Sustainability" as part of their 25th Anniversary series.

This session explores sustainability as a shared, ongoing commitment that centers on the leadership and voices of community health workers (CHWs). Through practical strategies, local examples, and the introduction of a CHW sustainability toolkit, participants gain tools and insights to support long-term, values-driven CHW program sustainability including funding, workforce development, fair pay, program integration, and community co-design.

Please consider joining and register here:

https://lnkd.in/gjjsMYd3

07/28/2025

Our summer intern Rachel Shalit is helping CCHE complete our health equity review of articles for 2021.

Check out her graphic below which explains the article "Motivation to Move Out of the Community as a Moderator of Bullying Victimization and Delinquent Behavior: Comparing Non-Heterosexual/Cisgender and Heterosexual African American Adolescents in Chicago’s Southside."

The findings show that bullying is a risk factor for delinquency across all youth groups. The hope of future upward mobility can serve as a way to mitigate harm in populations that are vulnerable.

Stay tuned for more health equity article highlights in the coming weeks!

07/21/2025

Our summer intern Rachel Shalit is helping CCHE complete our health equity review of articles for 2021.

Check out her graphic below which explains the article "Parental COVID-10 Vaccine Hesitancy in Chicago." The findings show that groups with the highest COVID-19 burden also had the highest levels of vaccine hesitancy.

Stay tuned for more health equity article highlights in the coming weeks!

07/15/2025

Our newest episode of Voices of Health Equity is now out! This time, we sat down with Dr. Ansuk Jeong, Assistant Professor of Psychology at DePaul University. She is internationally recognized expert in community psychology and psycho-oncology. Dr. Jeong shares insights from her global research on loneliness prevention, mental health equity, and cross-cultural healing.

Check out the episode here: https://soundcloud.com/cche-329796221/voices-of-health-equity-a-conversation-with-dr-ansuk-jeong

07/14/2025

CCHE has been up to a lot over the past few months! We recently put together a newsletter highlighting some of our recent events, resources, and accomplishments and we'd love for you to take a look!

Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gPsfZQcZ

Center for Community Health Equity

07/01/2025

“Exploring Connections between the Social Determinants of Health and Falls in Older Adults: Making the Case for Social Care Intervention as Fall Prevention" is focused on exploring how the social drivers of health influence the risk of falls among community-dwelling older adults in Cook County, Illinois, and to examine whether integrating social care interventions can enhance falls prevention strategies. The study is part of the Falls Prevention Research Fellowship with the National Council on Aging and the US Administration on Community Living.



To be eligible, participants must…

Be at least 55 years old

Have had falls or have significant fall risk,

Must be fully able to consent without major cognitive impairment, and reside in Cook County.

Participants who speak English or Spanish may participate.

If you have any questions or would like additional information about the study, please feel free to contact Padraic Stanley, LCSW, at (312) 942-2089 or via email at Padraic_Stanley@rush.edu!